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We need to fight poverty and disease, not love

Abstract:
The people of Arizona, Florida and California voted to ban same-sex marriage in their states Nov. 4.

California's Proposition 8 received the most attention because over 11,000 gay and lesbian couples were married there in the brief time that same-sex marriage was legal in the state....

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James

posted 11/14/08 @ 10:41 AM EST

The name of the 'Mormon' church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Dropping By

posted 11/14/08 @ 11:41 AM EST

Hey, you're entitled to your opinions, but could you at least attempt to get your facts straight?

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ("Mormon") did not contribute any money to Prop 8. It asked its members in California (which number about 800,000) to get involved, and they did -- along with millions of other people. That's called democratic participation and -- waaaaay back when Barack Obama raising hundreds of millions and getting all sorts of people fired up to go to the polls -- I seem to recall it being a good thing.

Gay activists are raging against the Mormons because Mormons are well-behaved and won't retaliate. I wonder why gays don't march through South Central Los Angeles and threaten violence?

I know the "No on 8" crowd likes to say that the "Yes" ads were "lies," but a majority of voters clearly don't believe that (even in California). I'm a lawyer, and let me tell you how the law works -- it's like water, and it runs downhill and it doesn't stop until it reaches the bottom. A generation ago, the LDS Church (along with millions of others) fought the Equal Rights Amendment, saying that it would inevitably lead to people demanding gay marriage. Critics of the Church said it was "lying," but time has proved the Church knew what direction this was all heading.

It isn't a "lie" to have vastly better foresight than your political opponents.

As for so-called studies proving (in your mind) that same-sex parents have raise children without effect to the children, my guess is time will prove the "Yes" crowd right on that, too. In the 1970s, people were pushing for liberalized divorce laws, saying divorce would not hurt kids, and they produced a study or two. But religious conservatives warned against divorce anyway, castigated by social "scientists" every time they dared speak up about it. Now 30 years later no one argues any longer that divorce is good for kids, just as 30 years from now, no one will argue that same-sex parenting is good for kids.

But, it's a free country -- so think what you want. Your side has a demonstrably bad record on these things, which is why voters in 30 states have banned gay marriage (the traditional marriage side is 30 for 30).

No one denies that these heartfelt disputes between various citizens' rights are controversial. But, as always, it's better to settle things by the democratic participation of tens and hundreds of millions of voters, than have a handful of judges cram their morality down on throats. As Mayor Gavin Newsom said, Gay marriage is coming "whether you like it or not!"

Gays ought to be marching on his home and office -- he lost the Prop 8 election for them.

Drop Prop 8

posted 11/14/08 @ 5:51 PM EST

Long-term studies have been conducted on children from adoption/conception by same-sex couples until adulthood. Just because you mock the information in this article doesn't make it wrong. I can almost guarantee that there is not a single legitimate child psychologist or independent study that shows that children are harmed by being raised by same-sex parents. This is not just a single study:

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20051012/study-same-sex-parents-raise-well-adjusted-kids
http://mentalhealth.about.com/od/gaylesbian/a/samesex1104.htm
http://sexualhealth.e-healthsource.com/?p=news1&id=522343
http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;109/2/341

As for the Church of Latter Day Saints, they led an ad campaign outside of California urging Mormons across the country, not just in California, to contribute to fight Prop 8. $15 million looks like a conservative estimate. Some places are reporting contributions over $22 million. And the "Yes on 8" ads were lies! The California state board of education even denounced the ad campaign. I don't know what else to tell you... you're wrong if you believe the information in the ads was correct.

One very encouraging sign from this past election, was that even though Prop. 8 passed, we are seeing the younger generation is much more accepting of homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Voters between 18 and 30 support same-sex marriage by more than 50 percent. We will see same-sex marriage bans fail across the country as this generation grows older, and an even more open-minded generation grows into voting age.

Originally posted by

Brian

I would recommend you take a look at the substantial efforts the LDS church and its members are continually making to fight poverty and disease. www.lds.org/ldsfoundation/welfare/


I don't think anyone is saying that LDS or other religious organizations don't do good work, but rather that their fight against gay marriage trumps the other things. Is fighting same-sex marriage really worth MILLIONS of dollars when millions of children could be clothed, fed, and sheltered. Homelessness among children is a sad reality even in America. How many children suffer from malnourishment? These people that fought same-sex marriage need to get their priorities straight.

Brian

posted 11/14/08 @ 12:25 PM EST

I would recommend you take a look at the substantial efforts the LDS church and its members are continually making to fight poverty and disease. www.lds.org/ldsfoundation/welfare/
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